HYPOCRISY is defined by Collins Dictionary as the « pretence of having standards or beliefs that are contrary to one’s real character or actual behaviour ».

Without a doubt, NO ONE SHOVELS HYPOCRISY LIKE THE GOVERNMENT.

So I thought I’d offer some almost laughable examples of not only HYPOCRISY, but head-scratching rules and mind sets adopted by governments.

As we all know, GOVERNMENTS DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO SMOKE CIGARETTES, without doubt, a wise view.

And yet, while they have bombarded cigarette packages with disturbing pictures of rotting teeth, oral cancer, mouth sores and people breathing through tubes, THEY HAVE NOT BANNED CIGARETTES.

As the Ontario government has, for example, LAWN PESTICIDES.

Yet many of these banned pesticides and herbicides are APPROVED FOR USE BY HEALTH CANADA AND THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION.

They are also ALLOWED FOR USE IN AGRICULTURE.

So, the government’s position is it’s UNSAFE TO WALK ON OR LIE ON GRASS that’s been sprayed with PESTICIDES, but safe to eat the FOOD it’s been treated with.

Cigarettes are NOT BANNED by governments because, for all their health warnings, THEY PROVIDE A LUCRATIVE SOURCE OF TAX REVENUE.

Instead, governments force retailers to HIDE CIGARETTE PACKAGES FROM VIEW, even though everyone knows they are for sale in the store.

Thus, the retailers have closed cabinets in which the cigarettes are stored, out of sight.

Except the cabinets are often adorned with ads for government run LOTTERIES AND SPORTS BETTING.

The same betting that’s illegal if anyone else but the government runs it, because GAMBLING IS SUPPOSEDLY BAD FOR US.

However, betting when the government runs the house is apparently the good kind of gambling.

You know, like in The Wizard of Oz — there’s a Good Witch and a Bad Witch.

The Good Witch works for the government.

You’ll also find in many convenience stores, on top of those cigarette cabinets, bongs and pipes.

Not the kind of pipes grandpa smoked, but the kind used for marijuana and hashish.

Which are illegal.

Now, I realize the sale of bongs and pipes is not illegal and bongs can be used to smoke legal medical marijuana, so the bongs haven’t been forced into hiding, like cigarettes.

But consider the government’s message.

CIGARETTES ARE BAD, but GAMBLING AND BONGS ARE OKAY ?

Apparently, HYPOCRISY is alive and well on the top shelf of cigarette vaults.

This is especially bizarre coming from a provincial government which won’t allow convenience store operators to sell beer and wine because they allegedly can’t be trusted to do so, even though research shows it’s tougher for minors to buy smokes illegally from convenience stores, than beer from The Beer Store, or alcohol from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.

In fact, the government won’t allow convenience stores to sell alcohol not to protect the young, but TO PROTECT ITS PROFIT MARGINS.

So it seems HYPOCRISY is a factor in government policies related to the sale of hooch.

I hesitate to stress the bong issue because the last thing I want to do is take away a potential source of revenue from hard-working convenience store owners.

In fact, I believe governments should legalize pot, or just sell it themselves, as they do with alcohol.

Instead, they’ve handed that job over to organized crime by default — the very criminals they say they are determined to prosecute.

That’s NOT HYPOCRITICAL.

But it’s painfully ironic.

COMPARING CIGARETTES TO PESTICIDES IS PITIFULLY RIDICULOUS, AS WELL AS LAUGHABLY STUPID ( Reports )

Because of Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION, Ontario now has a MORE DANGEROUS OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT, a BLACK MARKET IN PESTICIDES, and a TRAIL OF ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION WITH HUNDREDS OF SMALL BUSINESSES DESTROYED and THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUT OF WORK.

The Ontario PESTICIDE BAN has TAKEN AWAY THE ABILITY of people to SAFEGUARD THEMSELVES AGAINST NOXIOUS WEEDS AND DISEASE-CARRYING INSECTS.

On May 31st, 2012, Bill 88 was introduced to AMEND THE BAN ON PESTICIDES, and ALLOW LICENSED PROFESSIONALS TO APPLY THESE PRODUCTS under strict conditions and in concentrations well within established safety limits.

Bill 88 had the added effect of STRENGTHENING the Professional Lawn Care Industry that has been DEVASTATED by the McGuinty Liberals’ ARBITRARY PESTICIDE BAN.

There are LEGITIMATE CONCERNS about NOXIOUS WEEDS, which in extreme cases can contribute to DEATH, and which FORCE MILLIONS TO MEDICATE THEMSELVES or LIVE WITH SEVERE ALLERGIC EFFECTS.

Surely the entirely UNPROVEN CONCERNS of a few POLITICALLY-CONNECTED FEAR-MONGERERS should be balanced against the STRICTLY-TESTED, LENGTHY AND SCIENTIFICALLY-DOCUMENTED USE OF PESTICIDES applied under controlled conditions to deal with human health problems caused by noxious plants and disease-carrying insects.

PESTICIDE BANS have created a TRAIL OF ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION with THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUT OF WORK.

Summary of CATASTROPHIC CARNAGE Caused by BUSINESS FAILURES …

● Pesticide Bans Destroyed the Professional Lawn Care Industry

● Because of Bans, Owners, Employees, and Families Dependent on Professional Lawn Care Businesses Have Faced Terror, Despair, and Destitution

● Bans Have Inflicted Carnage In Jurisdictions such as Halifax Regional Municipality and the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario

● Bans Have Led To Horrendous and Catastrophic Carnage for Businesses Operating in the Professional Lawn Care Industry, in the Form of Immense Losses of Revenues, Business Failures, Bankruptcy, and Unemployment, and Even Horrific Fines

● Because of the Imminent 2012-2013 Ban in British Columbia, , Businesses Have Already Stagnated

● Because of the 2009 Ban in Ontario, the Professional Lawn Care Industry Lost Over 500,000,000 Dollars, With Up To 12,500 Unemployed

● In Ontario, One-Company-Per-Week Disappears Into Total Oblivion, and So Far Half the Companies Have Closed Their Doors

● Because of the 2006 Ban in Quebec, Over 60 Per Cent of the Professional Lawn Care Businesses Were Annihilated

● Because of the 2000 Ban in Halifax Regional Municipality, Professional Lawn Care Customers Disintegrated by Over 50 Per Cent